Sparrow Hawk. 277 



every movement, shooting rapidly off and hovering tem- 

 porarily exactly to correspond with the movements of the 

 unsuspecting mouse.'"* 



Early in April these birds establish themselves in their 

 nesting sites, and the honeymoon is marked by mauy 

 noisy demonstrations. The flickers alone rival them in 

 amusing movements and noticeable love-notes. In their 

 tender moods they utter a sharp, whining cry, or rather 

 a series of cries, suggestive of trouble and pain, apparently 

 the expression of a bird in distress, readily recognized 

 after it is once connected with the author. Seated by the 

 side of his chosen companion on a bare limb of a favorite 

 tree, the male earnestly solicits her favor, gently sidling 

 closer to her with quivering, partially expanded wings. 

 If she coyly recedes from his ardent advances and flies to 

 another tree, he soon follows on half-beating wings, cry- 

 ing out his piteous assurances of affection. Thus they 

 call attention to their presence and their intended abode 

 in any particular part of the woods or other resort which 

 they choose. 



In a cavity of the cupola of the school building where 

 my duties called me for several years a pair of hawks 

 made their summer home, and there I learned to look for 

 them at suitable times. The nest was on a joist between 

 the walls, the entrance being a hole formed by flickers 

 some years before the falcons laid claim to the site. 

 The ringing of the large bell in the cupola was a signal 

 for the appearance of the occupant of the nest, for it 

 seemed to me that the birds never became sufficiently ac- 

 customed to the sound to remain on the nest while the 

 bell was ringing. They were exceedingly cautious about 

 entering the cavity while they were being watched to 

 their knowledge. Frequently when I seated myself under 

 an- evergreen in the grounds to watch their movements, 

 one or both of the birds would fly above my head at in- 

 tervals and perch momentarily in the high maples sur- 

 rounding the yard, watching me suspiciously, but not 

 attempting to enter the nest. During the times at my 

 disposal for observing them I was never able to see either 



*Robert Ridgway. 



